Newqidas on the Block

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IrishPeter
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Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:36 pm

Bob the Mailman brought me a big box with four Newqida German "Reko" style narrow gauge carriages in it based on a Harz prototype. These will form the basis of a "modern" rake for the outdoor line being (allegedly) 1:22.5 scale. Apart from slapdash final assembly work, mostly cured by use of a screwdriver, and some glue slops, they look OK. I am a bit surprised at 2+1 seating in an allegedly 8' wide vehicle, but then I am used to being packed like a herring on a Pacer.

So what are the jobs to do:

1. Regauge to Ga. 0, as the outdoor job is proposed to be 32mm/22.5 to get a closer representation of 760/762mm gauge than is possible with SM32 or SM45
2. Repaint, or at least re-letter
3. Brighten up the interiors, and perhaps convert one into a buffet car, and a second into a composite, as an express rake.

Nice "little" winter project for me.

Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Sun Nov 26, 2017 3:36 am

4. Sort out coupler centre height...
5. Build something to pull them...

OK, this project is developing nicely!

Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by tom_tom_go » Sun Nov 26, 2017 8:48 am

These coaches are very cheap so for the price I think they are fine but the one I bought as a test is too big for my little line so I ended up grounding it at one of my stations.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by bazzer42 » Sun Nov 26, 2017 12:52 pm

I've seen toilet compartments added in a garden Rail one-pager.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:45 pm

My loading gauge is basically that of the Clogher Valley Railway for the indoor line - 11' by 7' (165mm x 105mm) - which is Irish 3' gauge prototype. The outdoor line is being built to clear them, so they are setting the loading gauge so far as that project is concerned. I think what might make them problematic indoors is getting them around 42" radius bends if I use body mounted couplers, which is my preference. Outdoors I can be a bit more generous - 60" radius - so with a bit of "give" they should be OK.

I'd forgotten the lavvy compartment idea. It stands to reason that if there are going to be facilities for acquiring ale and tea, there also needs to be somewhere to loose it! :D

The buffer height thing is going to be a bit of a bear as they are intended to be metre gauge (IIm - in Tyskland) vehicles - so the centre buffer height 33mm which is about 750mm in 1:1, whilst I am wanting to use them as Bosnian Gauge (IIe?) vehicles where the coupling height is 500 - 570mm, but at least that is close enough to the usual SM32 24mm that vehicle interchange will be possible if there happen to be any 32mm gauge NG nuts in this part of the USA - which is unlikely!

Cheers,
Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:24 am

OK, for a laugh I decided to try fitting some 24mm/Ga1 wheelsets to one of the NQDs, and the result was to definitely alter the proportions from metre gauge to Bosnian Gauge, and despite 3mm less clearance underneath it did not clout anything at rail level. I think that, looking at what is available in the US I will be ordering a boatload of 24mm wheels, and a half boatload of Ga.1 length axles and get mildly obsessed with the number 28. :? Next thing will be a spacer under the double chain and buffer couplings to lower them a few more mm, and hopefully get them to swivel a little.

Peter in Va.
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by merlin2 » Mon Nov 27, 2017 2:40 pm

NQD coach conversion - Brake end and toilet compartment. Rake also now has metal wheel-sets and Piko electric couplings for LED interior and tail lights powered from 9v battery under centre coach
NQD coach conversion - Brake end and toilet compartment. Rake also now has metal wheel-sets and Piko electric couplings for LED interior and tail lights powered from 9v battery under centre coach
52 (2).JPG (639.72 KiB) Viewed 7889 times
Merlin

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:37 am

GRS 24.5mm wheels ordered which should slot into the NQD bogies just fine. I imagine they will arrive in the Old Dominion about the same time next week. I am now working on the coupling problem as I need to get them down to 24/25mm centres which is 5 or 6mm lower than they will be on just a wheel change. There does not appear to be any way of lowering the bogies on their bolsters without major surgery, so the solution may well be well into the down and dirty category.

Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Wed Dec 06, 2017 4:24 pm

It looks like the plan is going to be:

1. Convert to 32mm gauge. Wheels ordered and somewhere between Princes Risborough and here. Waiting impatiently.
2. The coach with the most glue spatters, and manifestations of Monday morning about its assembly gets converted into a BG, which will involve blanking off four windows in the middle, and providing four panel doors for the luggage/mail/bike department. Interestingly, the Reko brakes when you get the light on them at a certain angle, seem to share the same body framing as the 6 and 7 window passenger vehicles. Also, there always seems to be one milk glass window in the Reko BGs, which leads me to wonder whether they had 'staff facilities,' or whether it just gives some privacy for the guard's kaboosh. Even if it isn't, the CLR could have taken the liberty of installing a necessary.
3. At least one other coach gets a loo. These usually seem to be off centre, so either the second or third window bay from one end, which is the same relative position as the wooden bodied Saxon and DR stock which preceded them.
4. Repaint. I am thinking about this one...

Cheers,
Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:47 am

Dismantled the first coach this evening. Relatively simple - seven screws out of the bottom of the body (one was missing), wiggle a bit and nothing much happened other than enough movement to confirm that I was on the right track. I found I had to loosen the handrails at one end to get the body off without undue use of force, but we made it in the end. After that it was roof off; doors out; windows out; and the seats sort of come with them. Then it was time to spread out all the bits and pieces on the bench, and take a quick look. Whoops! I had forgotten the grab rails. They came off with little gentle persuasion with the needle nose pliers. One nice feature is that there is already a gab for the khazi compartment in the seating mould off centre. :)

Next job was to remove the existing lettering using some fairly fine wet and dry paper from the dark green body shell. This was quickly accomplished, and then it was a quick rub down with a damp cloth to remove the remaining dust, and leave to dry for about ten minutes whilst I located my collection of rattle cans. Having checked the shell was dry, I hit it with the dark grey undercoat. The top coat will be an approximation of NER colours, which were a crimson lake somewhat darker than that of the Midland. If I remember correctly Burgundy over a dark grey undercoat produces something close.

Interior colours will need me to google DDR Reko-wagen and see what I can see. If not I will go with what I remember of 1st generation DMU interiors. :study:

Cheers,
Peter
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:08 am

1st generation DMU as refurbished and the actual Reko interiors turned out to be pretty similar when I googled them. So it is white ceiling, light walls, and a dark floor, with the seats in some sort of dark colour to represent the inevitable 'filth concealing mocquet' used on buses and suburban trains.

Bob the postman arrived with wheels today, so I had a little tinker before I had to go out. I discovered that I needed to skim a little off the LGB coupler shank to get the 32mm gauge wheels in as there are a couple of prominent casting spurs in either side. After that it was a straight slot in.

As for the coupling problem I am veering towards altering the vehicle ends to take body mounted chopper couplings. I would like something a bit less clunky than the Accucraft type, but balancing cost against everything else I may just make do.

Peter in Va.
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by bazzer42 » Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:27 am

[quote=IrishPeter post_id=131025 time=1513217323 'filth concealing mocquet'
[/quote]
Took me back to trips on the old village and that unique musty smell, strange how a memory triggers a smell , or is it vice versa? The coach conversions sound like an ideal pick up and put down winter project.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:53 pm

It is an ideal 'half and hour here; half an hour there' project which is ideal for this time of year when the demands on one's time seem to expand exponentially. Today's project was to fit chopper couplings to the first car which was a straight forward transplant. Saxon buffer and chain off, LBG style hoop and hook off, the business end of a chopper coupling on to the shank of the former hook and loop. Simples, and exactly what Dougrail did with his set. One interesting observation I made was that the choppers are about 20mm centres which is low enough for some Leek and Manifold style transporter wagons without the whole thing being a monumental pain in the you-know-where.

I am beginning to look at the assigned patch of ground for the project with the evil eye, but I would prefer the outside temperature to be over 50F before I start ground clearance, or, once the hard digging is over, I spend too much time in the shed huddled over the heater thawing out and not enough time working. Having humidity as well as cold to deal with once more is reminding me why thermal undies were invented! On the other hand, I am getting builders twitch, and want to be out there shifting muck, which for me is one of the enjoyable parts of the hobby, and much more fun than doing crude joinery in the basement. Of course I need to find the local source for crusher fines and all that good stuff before I get too heavily into digging.

Back home in Lincolnshire we seemed to get the cream of the cr@p when it came to both buses and DMUs locally. Lincolnshire Roadcar got most of its buses second our third hand, often with new bodies on old underframes and registered in Northern Ireland. Other than the Derby Heavyweights which had been refurbished, the DMUs tended to consist of high mileage and unrefurbished units of which most notorious were the Cravens 105 - whose mechanical condition could usually be described as "105 rattles in close formation." Cleethorpes-Grimsby-New Holland-Barton always seemed to get the ones they daren't let stray too far away from a mechanic, so limping in on one engine was a not uncommon experience. Even the relatively upmarket Transpennine DMUs were about cream-crackered by the early 1980s, and needed a lot of attention from the wee man with the big toolbox. Whatever the vehicle the smell was the same - warm oil, diesel, rotting fabric, sweat, and dust, supplemented in winter with the fug of drying humans and dogs. It was generally advisable to sit close to the back of the bus, or over a heater on a DMU to get any warmth at all. And aye, 'twas 5 miles up 'ill both ways t'school an' all, Lad!

Peter in Va.
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by dougrail » Fri Dec 15, 2017 5:21 pm

Very good Pete! I did with these in 2015 and my diary thread is here :-

https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 3&start=30

However, my photos have been 'photobucketed' :( - could reupload them on this thread as a guide if welcome?

Image

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:24 pm

It was your thread that set me off cogitating, as a matter of fact. However, I am going to leave them as Rekos, but repaint them in the Coverdale Light Railway colours, which are some variation of the old NER livery. I have not yet decided between the railcar/EMU livery (bright red with cream upper panels), or the coaching stock livery which was a deep lake - somewhere between the Midland Railway and the Great Southern Lake - so the one I am working on is in grey undercoat at the moment. I am leaning towards the old dark lake carriage livery because of the line being built to be worked by steam.

The back story on these vehicles to given them their place in CLR history is that when the line was revived the original passenger stock had gone for hen houses and holiday cottages, so they needed to find some alternative vehicles. The originals alternatives were Chattenden and Upnor carriages 3rd hand from the W&LLR, which were a bit draughty in the Yorkshire Dales, so CLRS pursued vehicles from Austria and elsewhere until they eventually managed to buy four carriages from the former East Germany.

Cheers,
Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:57 pm

Reko #1 went into grey undercoat about a week ago, and got its first coat of "coach lake" on Thursday. I have noticed that the spray paint companies over here tend to name their maroon and crimson paints after varieties of red plonk. Being a beer drinker, this means basically nothing to me, but then LMS, NER, GS&WR for the various shades of Lake would mean nothing to the average non-railway enthusiast plonk drinker. Anyway, I decided that Burgundy looks a bit too LMS, so I went for Merlot which looked a bit darker in the ghastly light of the hardware barn. This instinct seems to have been proved correct, as Reko#1 is a shade and a half darker than the Thriller from the Ziller(talbahn) I made for the last layout. The first coat of Merlot got sanded down on Christmas Eve, and I gave it another blast today. Hopefully, it will dry all right, but the weather is on the cold side for painting, but it is due to get colder over the next few days.

Cheers,
+Peter in Va
Last edited by IrishPeter on Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by Big Jim » Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:23 pm

I look forwards to seeing the results. I have given up on any painting at the moment as it is far too damp and cold (plus thanks to the strange drainage characteristics of the garden I need gumboots and a raft to get to the shed.)
If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer!

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:05 pm

When I first read your post I thought you needed gunboats and a raft to get to the shed. I know there are some rough spots in Wales, as elsewhere, but gunboats to get to the shed!

Then I put my glasses back on...

Aa'm lucky in that we have a screened in porch where the outdoor coats, welly boots, dog leashes, and recycling bins live, which is a few degrees warmer than the great outdoors. It is also close enough to an electrical outlet that I can bung a small electric heater in there, but there is a high probability if I do so I will trip-up the Missus. Lighting seems to consist largely of either daylight, or the fall out from the security light on the apartment building a block away, which is placed in such a way that tha feels tha's having a nasty encounter with Herr Flick and Schmallhausen the minute tha steps out the back door. However, I think the next few days will defeat even the porch as a place for painting, even though the humidity is quite low at the moment.

Anyway, Aa'll get a bit more of the interior done, and then see if Aa can pinch Herself's camera, and record the results.

Cheers,
Peter in Va
Last edited by IrishPeter on Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by Big Jim » Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:17 pm

Having lived on one of the more interesting estates in Cardiff, gunboats would have been required.
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Re: Newqidas on the Block

Post by IrishPeter » Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:42 pm

Years ago I used to work for the Post Office in the days when the uniform was collar and tie, dark blue tunic, and peaked cap. There were certain streets where my arrival with anything to be signed for at an early hour at the front door would lead to someone thundering down the stairs, seeing the peak capped figure through the frosted glass panel in the door, and exiting rapidly out the back door. The usual postie on that delivery was a woman who tended not to wear a hat...

The Newqidas are in cold storage for a few days with regards to spray painting. We have got several days of below freezing highs coming. I think I am going to have to smack the person who suggested that I would not like the heat in the South. We had a few miserable days in the summer, but this "fair Baltic" weather is a bit too much like being at home on the English east coast. Instead I am going to soldier on with the interior, paint the seats red or blue, make the loo cubicle, and wait for 50F plus temperature to return!

On a side note, it feels a bit funny not having to drag down to church every morning for the Holydays after Christmas. The new parish is a lot lower than the old one!

Cheers,
Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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